


Staring

by two_drama_nerds_in_a_boat



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst?, Crushes, F/F, Hugging, Internalized Homophobia, Kissing, Life in the Horde is horrible for my lesbians, Locker Rooms, Pining, Pre- She-Ra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 20:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17711129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/two_drama_nerds_in_a_boat/pseuds/two_drama_nerds_in_a_boat
Summary: As Adora and Catra grow up together in the locker rooms, sometimes Adora finds herself... staring.----Note: Rated Teen for brief mention of sex (but only referenced as 'sexual intercourse')





	Staring

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this because I always thought the locker rooms would be an interesting place for a developing Catradora relationship. I was toying around with this idea for a while, and I finally wrote it, finishing it at 11:11 at night. 
> 
> Hope you like it.

Staring. 

It was something Adora didn’t like to admit she did. 

But it happened often. 

It started when she was twelve, and everyone was starting to go through puberty. They were changing in the locker rooms, like they always did. They’d just finished their training exercise. Adora had won. Again. Catra was teasing her about it- about how Adora was bound to be force captain, because why wouldn’t she be? And she was Shadow Weaver’s favorite, anyway, so it wasn’t like anyone else had a chance. And while Catra was busy babbling, Adora noticed something new about her. 

She was wearing a bra. 

A real one, too, not one of those stupid Horde-issued undershirts everyone was made to wear as soon as they used the locker rooms for the first time. It was an actual bra. All… bra-y, and everything. And Adora found herself staring. 

“Adora? Fright Zone to Adora?” Catra waved her hand in front of her friend’s face. “You still there?”

Adora blushed, and looked Catra in the eyes. “Yeah, I’m here.”

She tried really hard to stop staring after that. 

(Important Word: Tried)

Something about Catra just kept drawing Adora’s attention. And when it wasn’t always at her chest. But when it wasn’t, Adora’s focus went elsewhere. To Catra’s hair, or her tail, or her hands. Adora was always looking at Catra. And though she hated to admit it, her eyes often went to her chest. Adora couldn’t explain why. Of course, soon the rest of the group found out.

“Are you and Catra okay?” Kyle asked Adora one day after practice.

“Why?” Asked Adora. They were in the locker rooms again, changing out of their sparring outfits and into their ‘street clothes’, a pair of Horde-issued slacks and a t-shirt of the same bland, military fabric. Catra’d gotten away early this time. They were all about fourteen years old, now, and Catra had begun to get into the habit of skipping practice when she wanted to.

Kyle shrugged. “It’s just that you’ve been looking at her weird lately… and we wanted to know if you’d gotten into a fight, or something..?”

“Who’s ‘we’?”

Adora didn’t know why she was suddenly so defensive, but for some reason, she was. 

“Why do you care, anyway?” She asked. “Why don’t you mind your own business, Kyle?”

Kyle looked upset, but he left Adora alone, which was really all she wanted. 

As Adora got older, her eyes couldn’t leave Catra. It became less a habit and more a hobby. They were sixteen when Catra finally said something. 

“Adora?” She said. “Can I ask you a question”?

Adora smirked. “You just did.”

Catra couldn’t resist rolling her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

The locker room was empty now, except for the two of them. All of the others could sense the tension and had left. They didn’t want to be there when Adora was confronted. Who would? Adora was prideful in her professionalism. She was Shadow Weaver’s favorite. Everyone knew that. She had to be perfect. If anyone ever brought up the idea that perhaps she wasn’t exactly that… Adora was known to lash out. Being in the Horde could do that to people. 

“Yeah,” Adora said, “you can ask a question.”

“Great.” Catra closed her locker. “Are you attracted to me?”

Adora stiffened up immediately. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, ‘are you attracted to me.’ It’s not really a hard question to answer.”

“I can’t be attracted to you,” Adora scoffed, remembering her training. “Remember the video they showed us when we were fifteen? Attraction only happens between people of the opposite gender.”

Catra rolled her eyes, as if she knew everything. “That’s sexual intercourse, idiot.”

Adora knew Catra was right. Last year, they’d been shown a Horde-issued video about how babies were made. It wasn’t a good experience. The Horde had made it very clear that none of their soldiers were to take part in any such antics, and that those caught doing so would be persecuted. 

“So what’s attraction then?”

Catra explained. “Attraction is, like, when you want to be with someone all the time. And you get this weird sort of fluttery feeling in your stomach when you’re near the person, when you have to talk to them. And sometimes, you find yourself staring. And you want to touch them.”

“O- oh.” Adora was stammering now. She didn’t know what to say to Catra. She could feel herself blushing, and she was staring again. Her eyes had fallen to Catra’s chest, and then she knew that was weird, so she looked lower, but that didn’t help, so Adora just tried to focus on the ground. Smooth. Solid. Steady and dependable. 

“Well, sometimes, when you’re attracted to someone, you want to stare at them,” Catra explained. “And sometimes, the staring can be a little creepy… but we’re in the Horde, so it’s one of the easier ways to handle things...” Catra reached out for Adora’s hands, holding them in her own. “And sometimes the staring lets other people know how you feel. And sometimes the feelings lead to touching. Or kissing.”

“What’s a kiss?” Asked Adora, feeling utterly clueless. She couldn’t look at Catra, not now.

“I think it’s like this,” Catra said. She pressed her lips against Adora’s. 

Adora didn’t understand what was happening; she just knew that she wanted it to continue. Catra pulled Adora a little bit closer, cuddling her lovingly. For the first time, Adora remembered that she herself was only half-dressed, and that Catra wasn’t wearing a shirt.

“What are you two doing?” A voice shouted from behind them. “You were supposed to have reported to the barracks ten minutes ago-” The person gasped, appalled as they realized what was happening. 

Adora turned to see a guard in the doorway, and right behind the guard, Shadow Weaver.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading- please leave kudos and comments if you liked it!


End file.
